A Terrible Nightmare
by Scarlett-Whitecross20
Summary: Shiro's time in space taught him much. Some things he never thought possible. And now that he's home, he's finally had time to ponder all that has happened. But how is it affecting him?
1. Breathless

Voltron: Legendary Defender

A terrible nightmare

Chapter one: Breathless

 _A dark void was the world the Former Black Paladin stood in. He looked this way and that,... nothing. Shiro stared down at his hands. The flesh on each was a comforting sight, but suddenly he felt a burning sensation in his right arm. A flash of light and extreme pain changed things in a blink of an eye. Looking down again, his Galra robot arm had replaced his former arm. He activated it, and it glowed that Galra purple as it had. Another flash, zapped the white Altean/Garrison tech arm that Allura and Sam made for him, replacing his Galra one. Something appeared in front of him, a mirror. The reflection he saw terrified him. He saw himself standing there, with the same white loose-fitting clothing he'd worn when he got his newest arm attached. The only difference was the bare flesh stub from where his arm once was. The surface of the mirror fluctuated like a computer until it finally showed Sendak, also without his arm. From when he'd been taken prisoner, after he tried to steal Voltron from them. 'We're the same, you and me. Both, part of the Galra empire.' He said, his words echoed around him._

 _His head suddenly felt heavy as he remembered Haggar's ability to control the clone, who's body he now possessed. He felt her in his head, and heard her laugh ringing in his ears. He also remembered the injury he sustained from fighting her by himself in Zarkon's main ship. His side aching in rememberance. The pressure intensified and he fell to his knees. And a blue light made him look up. He saw the diamond that was once the Castle of Lions, it was inside the Atlas's power core. It glowed that calm friendly blue, but it soon turned a staticky purple as that powerful, quintessence sucking robeast sucked the power from the Atlas, and him along with it. He felt himself slipping away, when a punch to the chest knocked the breath out of him. Looking up to see the deliverer of the fist, he was horrified to see the clone of himself standing there. His arm still extended from the punch. Standing up Shiro could see his eyes were glowing yellow. And then Zarkon, Haggar, And Lotor appeared behind him._

 _'No' Shiro breathed. The clone then drew a sword from his glowing Galra hand, and somehow wielded the evil Black Bayard as well, and charged toward him with both, ready to attack. Shiro froze unsure of what to do, and the clone sliced with both blades and..._

Shiro awoke in a panic. His breaths came in gasps and his body was damp from sweating. His pupils were small to show his extreme terror. He calmed a little, realizing that it wasn't real. And he tried to lay back down to go to sleep, but couldn't after such a terrible dream.

The next morning he was strolling down the halls of the Garrison, he headed down to the hangers and met Sam in the Atlas.

"We've made some improvements to the Atlas's control systems making it faster and more maneuverable in battle. Especially yours, Shiro." Sam explained. As he listened a muffled whisping and ringing suddenly drown out Sam's voice and he felt like a vibrating frequency. He grabbed his head as though he was having a migraine.

"I'm sorry." He said finally. "But I need a break." Shiro then left without waiting for Sam to reply. Sam was going to respond but Shiro was already gone, so he just stared blankly after him.

Later on, Shiro stood looking up at the Voltron lions. He was reminiscing of being a Paladin. And what it was like to fly the Black lion and form Voltron, and then fighting as the mighty robot. He remembered their battles with Zarkon and how hard it was. And his battle with Haggar on their main ship, he could almost still feel the pain from her magic blasting him in the side. And the experimentation he endured for almost a year, it sent chills up his spine just thinking about.

"Shiro? Are you ok?" Keith's voice behind him made the former Black Paladin jump.

"Oh- uh, hey..Keith." He shook his head with a smile. "Nah I'm fine, I'm just thinking about what happened out there." He glanced back at the Lions, suddenly the vibrating feeling returned.

"I know. A lot happened out there... You've been through a lot,.. we all have." Keith agreed gazing at the lions too.

"Anyway, we should be getting back," Shiro said finally, walking away. "It's been a long day already." Keith taken aback by this, but silently followed him anyway.

That night Shiro tossed and turned again, the lions, the Galra, and the alien races that they'd saved hovered around his mind. Playing out randomly, and reminding him of all he had endured. The void of Voltron's inner quintessence where his mind once lived seemed to become the place he remained. He was lost in an infinitely dark place with seemingly no way out. Anywhere he turned a piece of his past in space was there to torment him. He woke up with a start again. And as he calmed down again, he groaned in frustration.

Shiro sat around a long conference table of commanders. He, Keith, Sam and Matt were debriefing the group with more information from their time in space. The paladins stood in the background accompanying them. Sam and Matt had an Altean hollow-graphic device showing slides if different places and facilities they had seen. They were explaining the technology used in and on each place and planet, and how they would help their own technology here on earth. Shiro was trying to listen and pay attention, but the dim light was causing him to nod off. He tried extremely hard to stay awake. His left elbow rested on the arm of his chair and his head slowly anchored down on it.

"This technology is what went into the creation of Shiro's new arm." Sam continued. "And how has it been working for you Shiro?"

"Oh..um, good."Shiro straightened up quickly. "It's been working great. Never better."

"Are you alright commander?" Iverson wondered curiously.

"Of course." Shiro responded clearing his throat. "Sir." He tried to look very much awake. Keith wasn't convinced, he knew Shiro better then that.

"Ok, Shiro's been acting really strange lately." Kieth said finally laying his hands firmly on the table in front of him. He looked from on Paladin to another.

"Yeah." Pidge nodded. "I've been hearing some strange things have been happening with him."

"And that thing this morning at the meeting." Lance pointed out, crossing his arms. "Totally unlike him."

"So we know something's up." Hunk concluded. "What do we do about it?"

"We've been asking him if he's ok, and he's said it's nothing." Keith reminded them. "But now I think its time to put him on the spot."

"Keith's right, lets go find Shiro." Allura agreed.

The team had been looking for him for a while, when they somehow found themselves walking past the medical bays. Suddenly, Sam came out of one of them.

"Hello everyone." He greeted, happily grinning. "Where are you all off to?"

"Hey Sam," Keith returned the greeting, "we were actually looking for Shiro. Have you seen him?" Sam's smile faded.

"You could say that." He sighed, then he glanced back over his shoulder. Looking past him, Keith couldn't believe it.

"Shiro!" He gasped pushing past Sam and coming closer. Shiro lay on his right side, his back to the door. Coming around to him, Keith knelt down and nudged him gently. "Shiro? Shiro?" He looked up at Sam. "What happened, is he ok?" Fear gripping him like chains. "Shiro!"

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but I'm afraid he can't hear you." Sam told him calmly. "Not with the drugs I've given him." Keith froze and stared up at him in surprise.

"Drugs? You drugged him? Why would you do that?"

"Because he asked me to." Sam sighed. A gasp rippled amongst them.

"But why?" Pidge was confused.

"He didn't tell you?" Sam remarked thoughtfully, yet very unfortunate. The older man closed his eyes, then, opening them again, he continued. "His nightmares have returned." A gasp echoed amongst them again.

"The ones from when he was a prisoner?" Keith guessed.

"Yes. He told me they're back,... and he hasn't been sleeping well because of it."

"I still don't understand why this happened." Keith said, shaking his head glancing back at Shiro.

"Well he asked me to knock him out, so that he could try to get some good rest in. To make up for the sleep he's been losing." Sam explained. "He's sedated enough that he shouldn't have any dreams. Hopefully he'll get some much needed rest."

"This doesn't make any sense." Keith decided, he stared at Shiro's still face for moment before continuing. "Something is really wrong here."

"I agree with you." Sam nodded. "He has been struggling for a while." Sam turned to one of the Medical Technicians beside him. "Keep an eye on Shiro." He told them. "You have Commander Shirogane's instructions." He handed them a chart. "I will return shortly, and if I don't call me when the time is up."

"Yes sir." The med tech answered, with a nod.

"Now let's go." Sam said finally, turning back to the Paladins. "We need to discuss this somewhere quiet. The higher-ups must not know about this until we root out the problem."

When they had reached a quiet conference room the team all sat down, and told Sam what they'd seen.

"I see what you mean." Sam remarked thoughtfully after hearing what they had to say.

"So you agree that something must be done about it?" Allura implied.

"Absolutely, but what?" Sam scratched his chin.

"First we need to talk to him." Keith decided. Sam glanced over at him.

"You're right." Sam agreed, immediately rising from his chair. "Let's go see if he's awake."

As Shiro slipped back into reality, he was greeted by the concerned faces of the Paladin's standing over him.

"What... What's going on?" He yawned, sitting upright.

"We need to talk Shiro." Keith said simply.

"Ok," Shiro shrugged, a little puzzled. "About what?"

"About how you've been acting lately." Allura answered, stepping closer.

"Sam told us your nightmares are back." Keith confirmed. Shiro was taken aback by this.

"Oh," Shiro's eyes fell down to the left. "That." This was the last thing he was expecting them to say. "There's not much you can do."

"Doesn't mean we don't want to try." Keith told him. "What's been going on?" Shiro leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"I haven't been getting much sleep lately." He began.

"So we've heard." Keith shrugged, with crossed arms.

"And coffee doesn't help,... nothing has." He gave a chuckle at this statement.

"I'm serious Shiro." Keith was beginning to get frustrated. Shiro's gazed directly into his.

"Believe me I know." Shiro's eyes were soft and genuine. "I wish I knew what was happening. But all I can say is that they've returned. And there's nothing we can do about it. They'll go away, eventually."

"And what if they don't?" Allura wondered.

"Then I'll just have to make do." Shiro said simply.

"No, that's not good enough." Keith slammed his hands down on the table. "You've even thinking about all that has happened to you while you were in space. Maybe you need a distraction from it."

"Perhaps." Sam put a hand to his chin thoughtfully.

"And I've got the perfect way to do it!" Pidge thrust her elbows down making fists with her hands on either side of her body. Her eyes sparkling with excitement, as she glanced over at Hunk.

"We figured out how to use the Altean technology, to create a Virtual Reality-style game of Monsters and Mana." Pidge explained. "We used the hollow-map tech from the original board, and concepts similar to the AI chamber in the Castle of Lions. With these helmets we'll be fully immersed in the game." Pidge handed them each a helmet as she spoke, they looked much like there Paladin armor helmets. "These will allow you to interface with the game's system, and become your character." She snapped gauntlets on each of them as well, with help from Hunk. "They even come with remote controls." She said. Pressing a button, she morphed into her character: Mechlavar the dwarf. Each of them in turn pressed the button, each then became their characters. Shiro's character fluctuated into existence.

"What am I?" He asked, looking at the costume he was now wearing.

"You know, you're a Paladin." Pidge responded matter-of-factly. "You were always a Paladin... oh.. right." Pidge looked at the ground. She had forgotten that this Shiro had never played before.

"You can always change it, if you don't want to be a Paladin." Allura informed him.

"It's alright," Shiro smiled, "I'll give it a try."

"So what do you want to do now that we're here?" Pidge asked her friends excitedly.

"Maybe I'll finally be able to avenge my master." Shiro commented wearing a determined smile, but it soon disappeared when he realized what he'd said. The team stared blankly at him. "Sorry...Clone memories." He chuckled at the thought. "Guess I can remember things after all. Even stuff I don't remember."

"But you're not far off." Coran called from the control room above them. "Bloc's town may have been turned back from stone. But Dacon still has others he worked for, and some who worked for him." Coran's voice was very dynamic as he spoke. He was already immersed in the game.

"So let's go find out who they are." Pidge decided excitedly. Shiro looked over at Keith.

"Keith, aren't you gonna play?" He asked. Keith hesitated, but then gave in when seeing Pidge's big puppy eyes begging him to.

"Uh," he sighed, giving in. "Fine I'll give it a try." Pidge's face lit up happily. He turned to the others. "So what do I have to do."

"You have to create a mystical character." Coran told him from the controls. "You can do that on your gauntlet." Keith hesitated his eyes traveling down to the guantlet on his wrist. He then tapped cautiously at it trying to decide what to do. Pidge stood behind him ease-dropping on what he was doing. She quietly peeked around his shoulder, since she wasn't tall enough to look over it. He then became his character, and everyone was impressed with what he became.

"What are you?" Lance was confused.

"Cool, your a gladiator!" Pidge gushed.

"I like it." Allura commented, with a smile. "You'll do great." She gave him a thumbs up.

"Thanks." Keith smiled. Shiro grinned too, but then that vibrating feeling returned. He tried to ignore it and continued on. He wanted to give this game a chance, in hopes that he would stop feeling this way once they really got into they game. As they travel through swamps, and across rivers, through forests and over mountains. The world of Monsters Mana becoming more and more real for the group of adventurers. They scaled a mountain ridge when they were met by a castle built into the mountains face. The mountain was surrounded by trees and seemed to stand alone. It loomed over the forest, ruling over it like a mighty God. Allura stepped up closer to the castle, gazing up at its tall doors.

"Come on." She said finally, turning around. "Let's go find the disciples of Dacon." Shiro's character was fluctuating a lot by now. But he'd been back enough that no one noticed. The pressure weighed harder on him, the vibrating got worse and he simply couldn't continue anymore. He grabbed the helmet and his character fizzled away.

"What was that?" Pidge stopped, and looked around, having heard a noise.

"Someone just left the game." Coran reported. Keith glanced around.

"Shiro?" He said, not seeing him.


	2. Puzzled

Chapter two: Puzzled

Shiro was leaning against the wall hunched over with his hands braced on his knees, when the team came out to find him.

"Shiro?" Keith laid a hand in his shoulder. "Are you ok?" Shiro's breaths were abrupt and noticeably stressed.

"Ok, you're right." Shiro breathed between gasps. "Something's definitely wrong here." Keith's puzzled gaze suddenly turned to alarm in hearing this.

Shiro stared up at the ceiling, his eyes focused on the dull white ceiling. The lights up there blinded him a little, as a small red laser scanned slowly over his body. As the laser passed over his eyes, he blinked with the sudden red light shining into them. Keith and the rest of the Paladins watched in silence, hoping to get an answer from this. The laser stopped above Shiro's head and powered off.

"Nothing." Sam gasped under his breath, frustrated with the outcome.

"So what does that mean?" Lance wondered unfortunately.

"It means we're still at square one." Pidge explained, holding her computer in her hand. Sam tapped at the tablet in his hand.

"Nothing is coming up here." He said. "Maybe the issue is psychological, at least enough to not be detected by normal medical procedure."

"Yeah cause since when has anything with my body been easy. Why would my mind be any different." Shiro commented dryly. The team's eyes widened by this response.

"Shiro, you don't actually believe that... do you?" Keith was afraid of what Shiro was going to say next. The former Black Paladin looked blankly up at him.

"My overall health has been the one thing that I've struggled with for most of my life. My time in space has changed my situation, but my challenges haven't." Shiro's eyes were glazed over, they felt hallow except for Keith's reflection staring back at him. A sudden glint of light blue light spiraled around his pupils, this got their attention immediately.

"Ok, let's get you up for a second, Shiro." Sam decided, bracing his arm against Shiro's and pulled him upright. He then hit a couple of buttons on his table and a device craned slowly down from the ceiling. Sam pulled a seat up to the bed in front of Shiro and adjusted the device into place. "Relax your chin on the rest there and look straight into the lenses." Sam instructed. When Shiro did so the light from inside the machine made him squint a little.

"I'm sorry Sam." Shiro blinked. "But what am I looking at?"

"Well- it should be a hot-air balloon." Sam was taken aback by this. "Can't you see it?"

"No, not really, the light's too bright."

"Hmm." Sam scratched his chin. "Maybe I should try a different light ray wavelength." He guessed and began adjusting and re-adjusting things on his tablet and then to the device. Each type of light bothered him in different ways, so Sam changed it yet again. And this time it was way too bright for him, his head shot back and he covered his eyes with his right hand.

"This isn't working." Keith decided defensively.

"You're right." Sam sighed. "Let's try one more wavelength." He tapped away and then peered around at Shiro. "Try that." Shiro trusted Sam and peered back into the lenses, and was amazed by what he saw.

"I can see the hot-air balloon." He breathed in surprise. Keith smiled softly, but noticed that Sam wasn't smiling.

"Everything ok?" He asked, softly. Sam was silent.

"Dad?" Pidge was beginning to worry.

"I don't understand it." Sam responded finally. "This wavelength of light doesn't exist on earth."

"So?" Lance commented, not following his thought process.

"I've seen this wavelength before. And for some reason this is the only light that Shiro hasn't responded negatively to." Shiro peeked around at Sam.

"What do you think this means?" Allura wondered.

"I'm not sure," Sam shook his head with a sigh. "Let's take a closer look at your eyes, Shiro." Sam flipped a switch. And when Shiro looked into the lenses again , the picture was gone... only a light remained.

"Wow!" Sam gasped in wonder.

"What?" Keith asked quickly. "What is it?"

"See for yourself." Sam slid back to allow Keith to peer into the magnified lenses.

"Woah." He breathed, Keith couldn't believe it. Sam pressed a button, and the big screen next to them lit up and showed what Keith and Sam had seen. The magnification of Shiro's eyes show tiny veins of blue light moving around his pupils.

"What is that?" Pidge was cocked her head at this. Allura touched the screen for a moment.

"It's quintessence." She said finally. "Excess quintessence building up within him."

"From what?" Hunk asked as the device retracted back into the ceiling.

"I don't know." She sighed. She turned to Shiro. "What exactly has been going on?"

"Believe me, I wish I knew... but it's hard to explain." Shiro shrugged then faced straight ahead and lowered his gaze to the floor. Keith thought for a moment, pondering this thought in the back of his mind.

"Where have you experience it the most?" He asked after a long pause.

"Well the places where's it's happened the worst was in the Atlas, near the lions and in that game simulator." Shiro recalled, carefully.

"Then let's go there and see if we can figure out what's going on." Sam decided, determination painted boldly in his words. Shiro stood up and they all headed for the hangers. The simulation room was dark and empty, Sam snapped a watch like device onto Shiro's left hand.

"This will hopefully help us when and... if it happens again. The information it gathers may help us determine the cause."

"Ok," Pidge shrugged. "How do we do that?"

"By playing the game." Sam responded simply.

After playing the game for about five minutes, Shiro felt that vibrating sensation return. His character fluctuated in and out, and he stopped in his tracks. He felt a little dizzy, grabbing his head and closing his eyes. The sound of their voices and the other sounds around him faded away. It was as if he existed in another realm, one that existed at the same place in space-time as they were. Sam looked down at his screen, and the monitors pulsing on it. He looked back at Shiro.

"Shiro?" He said ending the game's illusion. As the world of Monsters Mana dissipated, Shiro was pulled slowly back into reality.

"I'm good." He breathed finally.

In the Atlas, the team spoke about the battle they'd won with the giant ship's help.

"We couldn't have won that battle without the Atlas." Lance recalled.

"And how you managed to make it transform like that." Keith commented thoughtfully, still amazed by this fact.

"Did you know the Atlas could do that, Dad?" Pidge questioned innocently.

"I hadn't the slightest clue." Sam admitted. "And I think the transforming part was all the crystal. The one of the Castle of Lions, it has so much power for such a small mass. And to think that thing powers a ship this big." He gestured around the room of the ship's bridge. "This ship as secrets nownot even I know, all thanks to that little crystal." Allura smiled thoughtfully. She was glad that, even in its destruction, the Castle of Lions was still being useful. But then, a blue light in the floor caught her eye, the light boldly outlined a panel in the floor.

"What's that?" The princess asked.

"It's the Atlas's power core." Sam was half alarmed by this. Pressing a button on the panel to his right, the panel popped open and began to rise out of the floor. The crystal shone brighter than it ever had before. It was so bright that the team had to shield their eyes. But, strangely enough, the pulsing light didn't bother Shiro at all. But then he suddenly felt the same vibrations and the crystal slowly stopped glowing. And seemingly on its own the crystal lowered back into the floor.

"Ok." Lance lowered his arms with a puzzled expression on his face. "That was creepy."

"More like strange." Allura corrected. She glanced over at Shiro, and her pupils shrunk a little. "Shiro?" The former Black Paladin stood stalk still as if in a daze. His eyes glowed a light blue, and beads of this light emanated from it and faded away as slowly as they showed up. Shiro's eyes closed tightly and when he opened them again they were back to normal.

"Uh- wha-.." he trailed off coming out of the trance. He scanned around at the confused faces of his friends. Til his gaze landed on Pidge. The Green Paladin had on a focused painter face, with her phone up in front of her on the end of her outstretched arm.

"Are you- filming me?" Shiro was completely confused by this.

"Well I was." Pidge shurgged. "Becasue of this." She tapped the screen and turned the screen toward him. His gaze went blank in confusion, as he watched what she recorded.

The group of friends and colleagues stood gazing up at the lions of Voltron.

"I was just standing here looking at the lions and talking to Keith when it happened here." Shiro explained to the team. "I was thinking about.. what- went on out there." He sighed heavily, looking at the ground. He then glanced back at his friends with a slight, thoughtful smile. "I may not be a Paladin anymore..." he said. "But I'll never stop feeling like one."

"Come on Shiro." Keith encouraged him, shrugging and closing his eyes for a moment. "You'll never stop being a Paladin... Even if you're not piloting a lion anymore... You don't have to pilot a Voltron lion to be a Paladin. At least.. not in your case." Shiro's smile widened.

"That may be." He agreed. His smile then faded as he turned back to the Black lion, which sat quietly behind him. A glint of light shining off it's eye. "I guess I'll miss the feeling of flying the Black lion." He placed a hand on the lion's silvery leg. He was glancing up at the lion's face when he looked at his hand. The blue light was glowing around where his hand touched the lion. As he stared at it, his eyes developed a ring of blue around his pupils. The Black lion then stood up and roared loudly. The team couldn't believe it. Shiro turned around to face them, his eyes still glowing. As the lion came to life behind him, almost as though it were a real lion.

"Shiro?" Keith wasn't sure if Shiro could actually hear him. But Shiro just stood there, his blank stared validating his guess.

"Uhh, what's going on." Hunk asked wearily, half suspicious and half scared, as he often was.

"Yeah, this is really starting to creep me out." Lance agreed. The Black lion leaned down as if to sniff each person. And, crazy enough, Shiro's eyes and head seemed to follow. It looked at Allura and then lifted its head the glance up past them. They all peeked over the shoulders to follow its gaze. Only to see Matt coming over to them. At that moment the lion's eyes stopped glowing, and Shiro snapped out of his daze.

"Hey guys whatcha doing?" Matt asked cheerfully. He seemed to look passed everyone and right at Shiro. "Hey what's up with Shiro?" He asked innocently.

"That's what we've been trying to figure out." Sam told him. As Shiro came forward slowly.

"Any luck?" Wondered Matt.

"No so far." Sam sighed unfortunately.

"Guys." Shiro's voice made everyone look in his direction. "I think I was just seeing through the Black lion's eyes." The team looked around at each other. This situation was getting weirder and weirder. They couldn't help thinking.


	3. Mystery Solved

Chapter three: Mystery Solved

"Were you trying to do it?" Pidge wondered.

"Wait what?" Matt felt left behind by he situation in front of him.

"No, not at all." Shiro shook his head.

"What?" Matt questioned. "What's going on." Shiro's eyes met Matt's.

"I haven't-.. felt right, lately." Shiro finally answered the confused Matthew. Allura's expression was puzzled, but thoughtful, then it lit up in a realization.

"Maybe it's the Black lion." She thought aloud. Everyone stared blankly at her. "Shiro's consciousness was transferred into the Black Lion, by the Black lion. It saved him. And we know now that he was trapped there for months, before we found him. Maybe he gained some abilities just from being inside the Black lion's inner quintessence."

"Is that possible?" Sam asked hopefully, though a little skeptical.

"Of course." Allura confirmed.

"Ok, but what does _that_ mean?" Lance asked, still lost in the explanation.

"Essentially Shiro's connection with the Black lion still remains. And is stronger than it has ever been. They're so connected that Shiro is experiencing an increase in quintessence within him. He's gained an ability much like that of the Alteans. I have abilities that I was born with and have learned from Oriande. The Alteans have the special ability to manipulate quintessence and channel it at will. And because of the Black lion, Shiro has gained this ability. That is why his new arm _must_ be powered by a Balmeran crystal. And why Shiro was able to convert the Atlas in to that giant robot all by himself."

"And why all this has happened." Keith realized.

"Precisely." Allura confirmed. "Essentially Shiro's been given the ability to communicate with anything with crystal technology, because of the excess quintessence he now possesses."

"Then will that explain the nightmares too?" Lance implied.

"Unfortunately no." Allura shook her head.

"It's probably just his PTSD, l like dad said." Pidge figured, adjusting her glasses on her nose. "Though the excess quintessence hasn't done him any favors."

"So now we know the problem." Lance decided finally. "Who's got the solution?"

"I do." Allura stepped forward. "I need to drain some of the access quintessence from Shiro. That will calm his condition back down."

"I can't let you do that." Shiro protested.

"What not?" Allura was confused.

"There's too much power for any one person to posses." Shiro continued simply. "We wouldn't be solving the problem, rather we'd be passing it around to different people. There's got to be a way to stop it.. completely." Allura's gaze dropped as she racked her brain for an answer. Then her expression lit up in realization.

"Their might be a way." The Princess vocalized her thoughts. "But I'd like to see something first."

Sensors were being placed on Shiro's chest and back, the white tank top he wore concealed some of them. Shiro sat cross-legged in the game chamber.

"So what are we doing again?" Lance asked, dubiously.

"We're going to test his connection the Black Lion." Pidge answered immediately, connecting one last wire into her computer. "That'll tell us the extent of his situation... in theory." She thought, placing her right pointer finger to her lip.

"And this will tell us how strong it is?" Lance implied.

"How will that help?" Keith wondered aloud. "We know Shiro still has a strong bond with the Black Lion."

"Yes, but by knowing how powerful it is, we can determine what needs to be done to neutralize his physical response to it." Allura explained. Keith blinked then lowered his chin.

"Oh." He said simply. "Ok." Pidge turned back to Shiro.

"Ok Shiro. Now try to connect with the Black lion." She told him. Shiro closed his eyes, he drew in a deep breath to relax himself. His mind reached out to Black and the lion sensed it.

In the hanger, Sam, Matt and Hunk stood waiting.

"So what are we waiting for?" Matt asked, rocking back and forth onto his heels. Just then the Black lion's eyes lit up and the blue lights shone on it's face and body. The lion then stood up and roared, shaking the ground with its might.

"That." Sam smiled. But then a powering-on noise sounded behind them, making Matt and Hunk jump. Matt did a lover's leap into the Yellow Paladin's arms as, the Atlas suddenly powered on by itself. The blue veins of the Castle of Lions crystal cluing them in. Then one by one each of the MFE jets activated as well, much to their astonishment.

"What's going on?!" May was half freaked out, and half excited. As Hunk lowered him down again.

Just then, the Monsters Mana game activated, and they were all standing in a beautiful valley with the sun shining and birds singing.

"Woah." Keith was in awe.

"Amazing." Krolia gasped. She had joined them after, Keith told her about what had happened with Shiro and the Black lion just a little while earlier.

"Is Shiro doing that?!" Lance asked, his eyes darting around the room.

"Yeah!" Pidge gasped excitedly. "But his vitals are fine!" She was astounded that the pulsations on her computer screen remained constant. Then Sam, Hunk and Matt's awestruck faces popped up on her screen.

"You're never gonna believe this!!" Sam cried, "but look!" He pointed the camera towards the lions. "They're all powered up!"

"Amazing!" Pidge breathed.

"And that's not all." Hunk put in, as the camera shifted. "The Atlas just powered in as well!"

"Woah, woah, woah! How is that possible?!?!" Lance waved his hands out in front of him.

"Shiro must have enough quintessence stored up to power anything with a crystal." Allura guessed with wide eyes. Just then Shiro opened his eyes and with a gasp, fell to the left bracing his left forearm on the floor. His right knee following it, sticking up in the air, and his right arm resting on his left leg. The illusion dissipated and the lions and Atlas powered down again.

"Easy, Shiro." Pidge advised, pulling him upright again. Bracing his elbows on his knees he lowered his head.

"Breathe." Allura told him. She laid a gentle hand on his shoulder as he flexed his neck, as if trying to pop it.

"What happened?" He groaned, unable to recall the events of the last several minutes.

"You're not gonna believe this..." Pidge began excitedly. "But you just powered the game simulator, the lions and the Atlas, all by yourself!!"

"What?!" Shiro half laughed. "Are you sure?"

"Believe me Shiro." Sam called from the computer screen. "She is not joking."

"How... how did you do it Shiro?!" Matt cried, still stupefied by what he'd seen.

"Well...you're guess is as good as mine, Matt." Shiro shrugged.

"So now that we know what's going on..." Hunk started. "What do we do about it?"

"Well something's got to give." Allura decided. Her gaze dropping and eyebrows furrowing. "Clearly this increase of power is the cause of his lack of restful sleep."

"You're talking about severing my bond with the Black lion, aren't you?" Shiro guessed, reading her expression.

"I don't see any other option." Allura sighed.

"What? No there got to be another way?!" Pidge felt her heart jerk in her chest, and then break in two. She knew what this meant for Shiro, as a Paladin. And she couldn't bare to see that taken away from him. Allura, seeing the Green paladin's disturbed face, searched her mind for an alternative. And then it hit her, the epiphany.

"Actually, there might be another way." She realized.

Allura reached to her right and placed a hand on the Black lion's leg. She stared up at it for a moment before turning to Shiro, standing perpendicular to her left side. She then laid laid her left had across his forehead, then dropped her chin. Centering herself she began to glow blue. And, in turn, Shiro and the Black lion began to glow as well. Blue veins traveled slowly around the lion's body. The energy it took made Allura, and Shiro, sink to the ground, Black not moving an inch. The ground glowed blue where they all stood. Shiro used his right hand and left knee to steady himself and that, too, became that glowing blue. The blue glow finally died down and Shiro fell back to a sitting position on the floor and Allura shifted her hands to his shoulders.

"This is incredible!!" Sam exclaimed. His expression hard to see, when peering through the scopes. "That blue glow is gone!" He viewed what he was seeing on the bigger screen. Shiro's eyes no longer had those veins of blue light!

"Amazing!" Pidge breathed. She then turned to Allura. "How did you do it?"

"Well quintessence can't just disappear." The Princess explained. "It has to go somewhere. So all I did was created an open bond between Shiro and the Black lion. Which means their quintessence will now filter through both of them. Shiro will still have his connection with the Black lion. And the Black won't keep giving Shiro more power than he can handle. Essentially they share quintessence. Meaning that it flows through both of them, at the same time. So neither one of them will have more than they can handle."

"So he won't be able to power any crystal tech anymore?" Pidge sounded almost disappointed.

"I don't think so," Allura shrugged. "I think that he'll never lose that ability because of how the clone body was made. After all, Haggar did create it didn't she?"

"Oh you're right." Pidge tapped her chin inquisitively.

"So what does this mean for Shiro?" Keith piped up. "Will he be ok?"

"This should solve the issues he's been having lately." Allura confirmed. "But the nightmares may not be one of them."

"Well just have to wait and see." Shiro put in, finally getting to his feet.

That night Shiro did have a dream,... but to his surprise it wasn't bad. He dreamt he was on Earth, with the Garrison behind him. He and the rest of the Paladins were watching the sun dip down over the horizon, staining the sky with all shades of blues, purples, pinks, yellows, oranges and reds. The Black lion sat quietly behind them, like a guardian ready to protect its master. And Shiro smiled, all is finally well. He thought to himself.

~A Terrible Nightmare~

 **Hey everybody, sorry about not getting this one done but I've been busy with other stories and hi had a point where I got stuck so I hadn't really down anything. Though this is the last chapter of this story, I kind of expected it. But I hope you guys enjoyed it. Thx!**


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